ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM

EME 422

SCHOOL : SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL

ENGINEERING
TITLE : ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF ENERGY

Name Matrix No.

Md Khidir Amin Bin Md Nasir 128943
Ahmad Bulya Bin Md Amin 128924
Muhammad Zikri Bin Adnan 128960
Nazirul Asyraff Bin Rasidi 128961
Nur Ainul Nurina Bt Ishak Latiffi 128964

LECTURER : PROFESOR DR. ZAINAL ALIMUDDIN

BIN ZAINAL ALAUDDIN
Introduction
Geo A prefix that means “earth,” as in geochemistry, the study of the Earth's chemistry
while thermal is something that is related with heat. Therefore, geothermal is something that
related to the earth heat, and geothermal energy is where the thermal energy that is generated
and stored inside the Earth.
Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Geothermal energy
refers to the production of energy using the internal heat of the Earth’s crust. This heat comes
from the radioactive decay of minerals and continual heat loss from the earth’s original
formation. Geothermal wells are drills into the earth crust approximately 3-10 KM, the heat is
extracted from the variety methods, but for most cases it is drawn by water and steam. Hot
water is extracted from the Earth and is used to heat building and cities. The process happens
when the hot water is directly circulated through the buildings or even use a heat exchanger
to transfer heat to the cities. Other than that, geothermal heat can used to generate electricity
by having a geothermal power plant. To produce electricity the geothermal heat will produces
steam that will cause the turbines to spin on a generator.
Geothermal have a lot of potential due to the benefit of that geothermal energy can be
extracted without burning a fossil fuel such as oil, coal, gas and by using geothermal energy it
is available at any time 24 hours 7 days a week, because geothermal is not the same as solar
energy and wind energy which only available at certain time. Furthermore, geothermal is an
environmentally friendly technology because it produces little to no greenhouse gas
emissions which is one-sixth of the carbon dioxide that a relatively clean natural-gas-fuelled
power plant produces.
Problem Statement:
1. Do geothermal energy is available around the world and how to implement the usage
of geothermal energy into our country.
2. What are the side effects of geothermal energy that will affect the country in terms of
economy and safety.
3. What are the challenges that the country will face in order to implement the usage of
geothermal energy.
4. Among all the renewable energy sources, is geothermal the best option among other
renewable sources such as solar energy, wind energy biomass, hydroelectric energy,
etc.
Objectives:
1. To determine whether geothermal is suitable to be used around the world and the
ways to implement the geothermal energy into our country.
2. To determine is there any side effect of using geothermal energy in term of economy
and safety.
3. To understand the obstacle that our country will face when geothermal energy is
implemented.
4. To discuss whether geothermal energy is the best option among all the other
renewable energy.
Proposed Technologies

1. Thermoelectric Technology

a) Seebeck Effect
Thermoelectric generators (TEG) are devices that convert temperature differences
into usable electricity. TEGs are made from thermoelectric modules which are solid-state
integrated circuits that employ three established thermoelectric effects known as the
Peltier, Seebeck and Thomson effects. TEGs require heat as an energy source and can
generate power as long as there is a heat source such as gas or oil flame, stove, camp fire,
industrial machinery, and furnace. One ambient energy source found in our environment
is a temperature change (thermoelectric-Seebeck) effect. The use of TEGs based on
thermoelectric effects (or Seebeck, Peltier, Thomson effect) is made possible by direct
conversion of temperature differences to electrical power. The Seebeck effect occurs
when a temperature difference exists between two dissimilar electrical conductors or
semiconductors, producing a voltage across two materials. Thermal gradients in the
environment are directly converted to electrical energy through the Seebeck
(thermoelectric) effect. Thermopiles consisting of n- and p-type materials electrically
joined at the high-temperature junction are therefore constructed, allowing heat flow to
carry the dominant charge carriers of each material to the low temperature end,
establishing a voltage difference across the base electrodes in the process. The generated
voltage and power are relative to the temperature differential and the Seebeck coefficient
of the thermoelectric materials.

Figure 1(a): Seebeck Effect

 It was reported that there are 79 localities hot springs in Malaysia. It was in Peninsular
Malaysia along the eastern part of the main range granite batholiths. Besides that, the hot
springs in Sabah originate within young volcanic area. While in Sarawak, thermal springs
were located at the most westernmost area of that state. Currently, the thermal areas used
for the recreational activity’s purposes only. In Malaysia, there are a few of famous hot
springs. There are Ulu Lenggong Hot Springs in Kedah, Air Hangat Village in Pulau
Langkawi, Gadek Hot Spring in Melaka, Pedas Hot Spring in Negeri Sembilan, Sungai
Klah in Perak, Tambun Hot Spring in Perak and poring Hot Spring in Sabah.

Figure 1(b): Thermoelectric Pipe

The system proposed is generates electric power by providing waste heat or
unharnessed thermal energy to built-in thermoelectric modules that can convert heat into
electric power. Some natural heat sources such as hot springs can also be used for this
thermoelectric generation system.
Thermoelectric technology is the direct energy conversion from heat into electricity
and has attracted much attention as a renewable energy solution. Since conventional
thermoelectric generators are complicated in structure and restricted in planar shape, it is
difficult to scale-up and implement. The thermoelectric tubes solve these problems by
using unconventional phenomena called transverse thermoelectric effect, which takes
place in tilted multilayer made of thermally-resistive thermoelectric materials and
thermally-conductive metals. This effect makes it possible to control heat flow and
electric current independently in materials and realizes quite simple structure without
complicated electric junctions and planar substrates.
The thermoelectric tube is constructed by stacking conical rings of bismuth telluride
as thermoelectric material and nickel as metal. Panasonic has developed processing
technologies in fabricating conical rings of brittle thermoelectric materials and bonding
rings with minimum parasitic electric and thermal losses. Thermoelectric tube is made up
of p- type and n-type semiconductor material placed on a tube-like structure. The tube is
made up of any metal which has high thermal conductivity. The semiconductor materials
used must have low thermal conductivity and high electrical conductivity. Panasonic has
used the semiconductor material as Bi2Te3 (Bismuth telluride) and the metal as Nickel.
The temperature range of some of the p-type and n-type semiconductors is as shown
below. The rough sketch of thermoelectric tube is given below: The temperature of the
hot water can be around 90 C and that of the cold water can be 10 C. As the temperature
difference increases, the current also increases. The 10 cm-long fabricated thermoelectric
tube using technologies introduced can generate 1.3 W of electricity. The power density
corresponds to as high as 10 kW with only 1 m3 of volume.

Figure 1(c): Structure of Thermoelectric Pipe

b) Limitations:
Thermoelectric generators are advantageous, but they also have several
disadvantages. Generally, thermoelectric generators only have an efficiency rate
between five and ten percent. Also, thermoelectric generators require both high
thermal resistance and low thermal conductivity. This means that it is more difficult
for heat to travel across a thermoelectric generator, causing the poor efficiency rates
mentioned above.
c) Environmental/Society impact:
This technology would also prevent atmospheric temperature increases caused by
waste heat, and decrease fossil fuel consumption by recovering heat energy, thus also
reducing CO2 emissions. Thermoelectric generators are advantageous because they
allow systems to retrieve heat that is otherwise wasted in the form of exhaust or
mechanical waste. Thermoelectric generators also recover heat that occurs naturally,
such as the heat that geothermal vents, volcanoes, hot springs, or high-atmosphere
applications produce. Generally, heat is not intentionally produced for a
thermoelectric generator, as this would lead to an overall loss of electricity or other
resources. Thermoelectric generators are most efficient when retrieving heat over 250
degrees Celsius.
2. Geothermal.
Based on article made by researchers from University Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
(UTeM) stated that the geothermal energy can be divided into two parts in term of the use
of this energy. First, the geothermal used for electricity generation and the other one is for
heating purposes. The temperature increases with the average of 25°C per kilometre of
the earth depth. If the average surface temperature is 30°C, the temperature at 5km is
155°C. For direct use application of geothermal energy, temperature as low as 35°C can
be utilized. However, the minimum temperature suitable for electrical generation is about
is 125°C.
In Malaysia there is a place called Apas which 40km from Tawau, Sabah has potential
to generate electricity from geothermal sources. According to the studied by Deputy
Natural Resources and Environment of Malaysia, the geothermal site in Apas has
potential to generate up to 67MW of electricity a day. Moreover, the electricity generated
can meet energy demands of Tawau, Sabah.
a) Tawau Geothermal Project.
Tawau Geothermal Project is the first geothermal power plant in Malaysia and it is the
Independent Power Plant under Tawau Green Energy (TGE). The location of Tawau
Geothermal Project is at Jalan Apas Kiri within Mount Andrassy Forest Reserve and Tawau
Hills Park, Figure 2(a).

Figure 2(a)
The chemistry of surface springs recommends a deep underlying neutral chloride fluid
rising and outflowing the SE and the South with a deep temperature of about 200°C (Chen,
2012) This geothermal source was first discovered in Apas Kiri, Tawau during 2008-2009
by Malaysia’s Minerals and Geoscience Department. During that time, Mr Ramzi Raad the
managing director of TGE said that no one believed and convince of this geothermal source.
The first phase of this geothermal power plant will be supplying 30MW of renewable
energy to the state grid. TGE had completed the drilling works of two deep exploration
wells into the central portions of the Mount Maria up flow in channelling hot water up from
2km in the ground.
 Figure 2(b)
Geothermal energy is a heat that derived from earth. The supply of energy is unlimited,
so geothermal energy is a renewable resource and available continuously (Geothermal
Energy Association, 2012). When the rainwater seeps through the cracks, it will be
collected and forms a geothermal reservoir. The geothermal reservoir will be heated by
magma and produce superheated fluid. After that, the superheated fluid will be extracted to
the surface of earth for electricity generation or direct use purpose. Geothermal energy is
more flexible than other irregular renewable energy resources such as solar and wind which
may affected by the changes of weather condition (Basar, et al., 2010).
Hence, it can support to those renewable energy resources. Geothermal energy is
friendly to environment compared to others power especially in the aspect of air emission
(J.W. Luid, 2009). In addition, geothermal energy has a very small land use footprint
among the power generation technologies such as coal, nuclear, wind and other renewable
resources (Chen, 2012). Compared to other fuels, the carbon footprint of geothermal energy
is 65 times smaller than that of coal and 40 times smaller than that of natural gas.
b) Impact of Geothermal Energy toward Environment.

1. There is an abundance of greenhouse gases below the surface of the earth, some
of which mitigates towards the surface and into the atmosphere. These
emissions tend to be higher near geothermal power plants.
2. Geothermal power plants are associated with sulphur dioxide and silica
emissions, and the reservoirs can contain traces of toxic heavy metals including
mercury, arsenic and boron.
3. Terrain changes. The use of geothermal energy sources requires the drilling
deep holes (boreholes) and the insertion of pipes for pumping high-temperature
fluids out from the ground. The rocks that contain high-temperature fluids also
contain minerals, which tend to form residues inside the pipes and production
equipment.

c) Limitation of Geothermal Energy.

1. Geothermal power plants can in extreme cases cause earthquakes due to

unstable ground surface.
2. There are heavy upfront costs associated with both geothermal power plants
and geothermal heating/cooling systems due to the large-scale industrial
activity.
3. Very location specific. Tawau, Sabah is the only place that have a potential to
become geothermal power plant in Malaysia.
3. Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP)
a) Theory

A geothermal heat pump or ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a central

heating and/or cooling system that transfers heat to or from the ground. The main
components of GHP are ground loop, heat pump and heating/ cooling distribution system.

Heat Pump

A heat pump is merely an air-conditioner with extra for-way reversing valve that allows
the condenser (hot coil) and evaporator (cold coil) to reverse places in winter. Figure 1 (a)
and Figure 2 (b) shows the reversing valve in heating mode and cooling mode respectively.
The valve permits the refrigerant to travel from the indoor air coil to the compressor while in
cooling mode and from the water coil to the compressor while in heating mode.

In heating mode, the reversing valve slides to a position that routes the hot refrigerant
from the compressor through the top port to the indoor air coil (now the condenser) through
the right bottom port of the reversing valve. Thus, the air circulated by the indoor fan will be
heated. After passing through the expansion device, the refrigerant enters the outdoor coil at a
low temperature. Because the temperature of the refrigerant is low, heat can be transferred
from the water to the refrigerant inside the evaporator.
 Figure 1 (b): Heating Cycle

Figure (b): Cooling Cycle

Distribution System

The second indoor component of a geothermal system is the distribution system that is
responsible for moving conditioned air from the heat pump throughout the home. The typical
thermal output system in a residential application transfer heat to either a forced air
heating/cooling system (a “water-to-air” system), or to a hydronic system for radiant heating,
pool heating, or domestic water heating (a “water-to-water” system).
Ground Heat Exchanger

Ground-Source Heat Pump (GSHP), relies on fluid-filled pipes buried beneath the earth as
a source of heating in winter and cooling in summer. In heating mode, the GHP pulls heat
from the earth and transfers this heat to the indoor air or water, and in cooling mode the heat
pump pulls heat from the indoor air and rejects the heat into the ground. This transfer of heat
is called Geo-Exchange. Depending on the latitude of a location, ground temperatures can
range from 45 F (7 °C) to 75 F (21 °C). There are two types of loop system can be installing
whether open loop system or closed loop system. There are three variation of loop
configuration, horizontal, vertical and slinky as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Three different loop configuration.

b) Limitation
1) GHP technology is complex
2) Lack of Qualified Professionals
3) Closed Loop System Issues. The closed loop systems share common disadvantages
like impact of soils on efficiency and presence of antifreeze.
4) Soil Types. Heat storage and transfer is best in heavy soils such as clay or rock. Sandy
soils cannot store or transfer much heat, so larger loop fields are necessary. Decrease
in soil moisture below "12.5% has a devastating impact on the performance, while
increase in soil moisture above 25% improves heat transfer. So dry soils are not
suitable especially in direct heat exchange systems.
5) For horizontal system, large area is necessary. Study finds the Horizontal system
requires 1,500-3,000 square feet of land for every ton of heating or cooling.
6) For vertical system, The U-shaped loops and their depth make them the most
expensive of all the GHS systems. Skilled installation and equipment needed.
c) Environmental Impact
1) Offer significantly lower emissions. Geothermal systems are 100 percent electric
which means that they emit no carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide or other greenhouse
gases that can be harmful
2) Land Use. The amount of land required by a geothermal plant varies depending on the
properties of the resource reservoir, the amount of power capacity, arrangement of
wells and piping systems,
Pros
1) Geothermal heating/cooling systems can reduce utility bills by 40% to 60%.
2) It harnesses renewable energy. Geothermal heating is more environmentally option
compared to other forms of heating and cooling systems, particularly true for those
that use coal, gasoline, and other fossil fuels.
3) It can last for years. As long as a geothermal heating system is properly designed and
built, it has the potential to last up to 50 years. This makes it a sound investment,
especially for those who are planning to live in their home for a long time.

Cons
1) Initial installation cost of a GHP is high as it depends on the size of the house/building,
the pump, the type of soil, climate and loop field. Vertical loop system costs $34,000, a
5-ton horizontal loop for radiant heating and cooling costs $29,500.
2) Requires specialized know-how in many areas. To decide the system best suited for a
home or business a thorough examination of factors like geology, hydrology, land
availability, heating and cooling requirements and other important energy-saving devices
in the house is necessary.
3) Electricity is necessary to run the heat compressor in closed-loop systems, and for
pumping up water the whole year in open loop systems, so a GHP is not completely
carbon neutral.
Discussion
There are three technology alternative sources of energy that has been proposed which
are Thermoelectric Technology, Tawau Geothermal and Geothermal Heat Pump.
The Thermoelectric Technology is by using thermoelectric tube that is constructed by
stacking conical rings of bismuth telluride as thermoelectric material and nickel as metal. The
Thermoelectric tube is made up of p- type and n-type semiconductor material placed on a
tube-like structure. The tube is made up of any metal which has high thermal conductivity.
The semiconductor materials used must have low thermal conductivity and high electrical
conductivity. The tube will convert temperature differences into usable electricity by using
natural heat sources such as hot springs. The Seebeck effect occurs when a temperature
difference exists between two dissimilar electrical conductors or semiconductors, producing a
voltage across two materials. Thermal gradients in the environment are directly converted to
electrical energy through the Seebeck (thermoelectric) effect.
The Tawau Geothermal is the first geothermal power plant at Jalan Apas Kiri within
Mount Andrassy Forest Reserve and Tawau Hills Park in Malaysia. The chemistry of surface
springs recommends a deep underlying neutral chloride fluid rising and outflowing the SE
and the South with a deep temperature of about 200°C. Geothermal energy is a heat that
derived from earth. When the rainwater seeps through the cracks, it will be collected and
forms a geothermal reservoir. The geothermal reservoir will be heated by magma and
produce superheated fluid. After that, the superheated fluid will be extracted to the surface of
earth for electricity generation or direct use purpose.
The Geothermal Heat Pump is a central heating and/or cooling system that transfers
heat to or from the ground. A heat pump is merely an air-conditioner with extra for-way
reversing valve that allows the condenser (hot coil) and evaporator (cold coil) to reverse
places in winter. The valve permits the refrigerant to travel from the indoor air coil to the
compressor while in cooling mode and from the water coil to the compressor while in heating
mode. In heating mode, the reversing valve slides to a position that routes the hot refrigerant
from the compressor through the top port to the indoor air coil (now the condenser) through
the right bottom port of the reversing valve. Thus, the air circulated by the indoor fan will be
heated. After passing through the expansion device, the refrigerant enters the outdoor coil at a
low temperature. Because the temperature of the refrigerant is low, heat can be transferred
from the water to the refrigerant inside the evaporator. The second indoor component of a
geothermal system is the distribution system that is responsible for moving conditioned air
from the heat pump throughout the home. The typical thermal output system in a residential
application transfer heat to either a forced air heating/cooling system (a “water-to-air”
system), or to a hydronic system for radiant heating, pool heating, or domestic water heating
(a “water-to-water” system). Ground-Source Heat Pump (GSHP), relies on fluid-filled pipes
buried beneath the earth as a source of heating in winter and cooling in summer. In heating
mode, the GHP pulls heat from the earth and transfers this heat to the indoor air or water, and
in cooling mode the heat pump pulls heat from the indoor air and rejects the heat into the
ground. This transfer of heat is called Geo-Exchange.
 The limitation for the Thermoelectric Technology is it have lower efficiency rate
between five and ten percent. Also, thermoelectric generators require both high thermal
resistance and low thermal conductivity. This means that it is more difficult for heat to travel
across a thermoelectric generator, causing the poor efficiency rates. Besides that, this
technology would also prevent atmospheric temperature increases caused by waste heat, and
decrease fossil fuel consumption by recovering heat energy, thus also reducing CO 2

emissions. This system will allow to retrieve heat that is otherwise wasted in the form of
exhaust or mechanical waste. Then, it also recovers heat that occurs naturally, such as the
heat that geothermal vents, volcanoes, hot springs, or high-atmosphere applications produce.
This technology is most efficient when retrieving heat over 250 degrees Celsius.
Secondly, The Tawau Geothermal can in extreme cause earthquakes due to unstable
ground surface. There are heavy upfront costs associated with both geothermal power plants
and geothermal heating/cooling systems due to the large-scale industrial activity. There is an
abundance of greenhouse gases below the surface of the earth, some of which mitigates towards
the surface and into the atmosphere. Another than that, these emissions tend to be higher near
geothermal power plants. Geothermal power plants are associated with sulphur dioxide and
silica emissions, and the reservoirs can contain traces of toxic heavy metals including mercury,
arsenic and boron. Then, the use of geothermal energy sources requires the drilling deep holes
(boreholes) and the insertion of pipes for pumping high-temperature fluids out from the ground.
The rocks that contain high-temperature fluids also contain minerals, which tend to form
residues inside the pipes and production equipment.
Then, Geothermal heating/cooling systems can reduce utility bills by 40% to 60%. As
long as a geothermal heating system is properly designed and built, it has the potential to last
up to 50 years. This makes it a sound investment, especially for those who are planning to live
in their home for a long time. Initial installation cost of a GHP is high as it depends on the size
of the house/building, the pump, the type of soil, climate and loop field. In order to decide the
system best suited for a home or business a thorough examination of factors like geology,
hydrology, land availability, heating and cooling requirements and other important energy-
saving devices in the house is necessary. Electricity is necessary to run the heat compressor in
closed-loop systems, and for pumping up water the whole year in open loop systems, so a GHP
is not completely carbon neutral.
Based on three technologies that has been proposed above, the Tawau Geothermal is
most suitable technology applied in Malaysia. It is because there is geothermal source that was
discovered in Apas Kiri, Tawau during 2008-2009 by Malaysia’s Minerals and Geoscience
Department. The chemistry of surface springs recommends a deep underlying neutral chloride
fluid rising and outflowing the SE and the South with a deep temperature of about 200°C.
When the rainwater seeps through the cracks, it will be collected and forms a geothermal
reservoir. The geothermal reservoir will be heated by magma and produce superheated fluid.
After that, the superheated fluid will be extracted to the surface of earth by drilled into the
central portions of the Mount Maria up flow in channelling hot water up from 2km in the
ground for electricity generation or direct use purpose. Then, the first phase of this geothermal
power plant estimated will be supplying 30MW of renewable energy to the state grid. Besides
that, the Thermoelectric Technology is not suitable due to lower efficiency rate between 5 and
10 percent. The Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP) also not suitable being applied in Malaysia
because of the initial cost for the GHP is high and it also required specialized know-how in
many areas.
Conclusion
In conclusion, geothermal energy is a reliable renewable source that have the capabilities
of providing enough energy to help prolonged the fossil fuels. Geothermal is considered to be
efficient due to availability of geothermal energy can be obtain 365 days a year which is an
advantage compare to solar which require the Sun and wind energy that require windy
season. Despite all the advantages that geothermal energy possesses there are still limitation
on this resource, such as geothermal is only suitable in specific geologic conditions such as
Iceland, Indonesia, New Zealand, Hawaii, California, and Ecuador that have geothermal
development in the most volcanically and tectonically active regions of the world. Hence it is
not suitable to apply this alternative source of energy in all around the world. Furthermore,
the cost for geothermal is very expensive due to the cost to carry out the seismic sensing, test
well drilling, confirmation testing, and other necessary preliminary investigations to ensure
that a geothermal plant will be capable of meeting desired production specifications. So,
geothermal energy is suitable to certain country that have volcanically and tectonically active
regions and country that are financially stable in order to successfully make it as an
alternative source of energy.
Reference
1. https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/en110630-4/en110630-4.html
2. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11664-014-3189-z
3.